David Oyelowo

An exciting talent, British born Nigerian actor David Oyelowo broke the color barrier at the Royal Shakespeare Company with his bravura performance in a production of "Henry VI" before going on to ach...
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Birdman was the toast of the 87th Oscars on Sunday (22Feb15), earning Best Picture as Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore also celebrated big wins at Hollywood's big night.
Birdman filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was named Best Director, while he also claimed Best Original Screenplay and Emmanuel Lubezki received the Best Cinematography award. Redmayne couldn't contain his excitement as he collected the Best Actor prize for his Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, and Julianne Moore scored Best Actress for Still Alice, while fellow awards season favourites and first-time nominees J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) walked away with the best supporting acting prizes.
Wes Anderson also had reason to celebrate as The Grand Budapest Hotel, which tied with Birdman for the most nominations with nine nods apiece, scored four titles, including Best Original Score for Alexandre Desplat. Each of the nominations for Best Original Song were performed, but it was John Legend and Common's powerful rendition of Selma track "Glory" which left actors David Oyelowo and Chris Pine in tears at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre as the audience gave the musicians a standing ovation. "Glory" went on to win the category. Meanwhile, Jennifer Hudson honoured the stars lost in the past year by singing "I Can't Let Go" as part of the In Memoriam segment, and Lady Gaga helped to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Oscar-winning movie The Sound of Music with an impressive medley of hits from the Dame Julie Andrews musical, including Edelweiss, Climb Ev'ry Mountain and the title song.
Ceremony host Neil Patrick Harris also showed off his vocals by opening the 2015 prizegiving with a comedic song and dance number with Anna Kendrick and actor/rocker Jack Black.
The full list of winners at the 2015 Oscars is:
Best Motion Picture of the Year: Birdman
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Achievement in Directing: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Best Writing, Original Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo, Birdman
Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay: Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Ida (Poland)
Best Animated Feature Film: Big Hero 6 Best Documentary, Feature: Citizenfour
Best Documentary, Short Subject: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Best Short Film, Animated: Feast Best Short Film, Live Action: The Phone Call
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: "Glory" from Selma, by John Legend and Common
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Achievement in Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Best Achievement in Film Editing: Tom Cross, Whiplash
Best Achievement in Costume Design: Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Achievement in Production Design: Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Interstellar Best Achievement in Sound Editing: American Sniper
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Whiplash
Academy Honorary Awards: Jean-Claude Carriere Hayao Miyazaki Maureen O'Hara Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Harry Belafonte.

Selma stars Oprah Winfrey and David Oyelowo have shrugged off their disappointment after the film lost out on the prestigious Best Picture prize at the Oscars on Sunday (22Feb15), insisting the movie will live on beyond awards season.
The civil rights drama, which focused on marches organized by activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was largely snubbed in the nomination shortlist and only competed for Best Picture and Best Original Song on the night.
Selma lost out on the night's top prize to Birdman, but won the music honor for John Legend and Common's track Glory, which brought many audience members, including Oyelowo and Chris Pine, to tears when it was performed at the ceremony.
Speaking at the Vanity Fair afterparty, the film's actress and producer Winfrey tells Sky News, "That (the live performance of Glory) was an amazing moment, it was the end of our journey with Selma... so now the fact they're singing our song, literally, that was an incredible moment."
Oyelowo is also convinced the film will go on to have a long life after Hollywood's award season comes to an end, telling U.K. TV show Good Morning Britain, "Films are forever, not just for awards season. That film is going to go on and have, I truly believe, a wonderful life... Embedded in that film is the fact that solidarity and camaraderie in the face of hate can truly affect change that's the spirit in which we made the film and what is now out in the world."

John Travolta will get the chance to redeem himself at the Oscars next week (22Feb15) after his embarrassing Idina Menzel slip-up last year (14). The big show's bosses have announced the Pulp Fiction star will be among the presenters at the 2015 Academy Awards, despite the fact he flubbed Let It Go singer Menzel's name when introducing her Frozen performance a year ago.
Travolta stumbled over 'Idina Menzel' and called the singer 'Adele Dazeem', becoming part of Oscars history and the butt of jokes in the process.
The Oscars presenters this year will also feature Kerry Washington, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Aniston and David Oyelowo, who many experts believe were snubbed for Best Actress and Best Actor nominations.

Civil rights drama Selma failed to land a single nomination at this year's (15) BAFTA Awards because movie bosses did not organise enough voter screenings, according to the organisation's chief executive. The movie was left out of the running at the top industry prizegiving in the U.K., and its star, Brit David Oyelowo, failed to land a mention in the Best Actor rundown.
The news sparked speculation BAFTA voters had deliberately shunned the movie, but chief executive Amanda Berry is adamant the snub was down to studio bosses who failed to make sure awards voters got to see the film.
Berry tells Sky News, "I'm heartbroken about Selma because the reason it hasn't got any nominations is because people didn't see it. The film wasn't delivered in the States until the end of November, then a print has to be shipped over to the U.K. and then screenings organised... Before the BAFTA voting started there were only three screenings of the film and only hundreds of people were reached - there are 6,500 voting members... We absolutely recognise David's a hugely talented British actor so I was personally very disappointed that it was all down to logistics."
Oyelowo and the film's director Ava DuVernay also failed to land Oscar nominations this year (15), and the actor recently blamed the snub on ongoing race issues in Hollywood.
Selma will compete for the Best Picture prize at the Academy Awards later this month (Feb15).

Oscar-nominated civil rights drama Selma and U.S. TV comedy Black-Ish were among the big winners at the 2015 NAACP Image Awards on Friday (06Feb15). The Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic earned director Ava DuVernay the Outstanding Motion Picture prize, while her leading man David Oyelowo took home the best actor honour at the Los Angeles ceremony.
There were also prizes for Selma supporting actors Common and Carmen Ejogo, who portrayed King, Jr.'s wife, Coretta.
Taraji P. Henson was a double winner, walking away as best movie actress for thriller No Good Deed and earning the Entertainer of the Year title.
In the TV categories, Black-ish dominated the comedy section, with event host Anthony Anderson and his onscreen wife Tracee Ellis Ross scoring the top acting accolades, while co-stars Laurence Fishburne and Yara Shahidi won the supporting honours. The programme was also named Outstanding Comedy Series.
Shonda Rhimes' hit shows also emerged victorious, with How to Get Away with Murder landing Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for Viola Davis, and Scandal's Joe Morton and Khandi Alexander earning the supporting acting titles.
Meanwhile, in the music categories, Pharrell Williams was named Outstanding Male Artist and Beyonce took home the female equivalent, as Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige claimed the Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration prize for their hit song Stay With Me.
John Legend's You & I (Nobody in the World) was awarded Outstanding Music Video and new mum Alicia Keys scored Outstanding Song for We Are Here.
Music mogul Clive Davis received the Vanguard Award, in recognition of his work regarding racial and social issues and director Spike Lee was presented with the NAACP President's Award, which celebrates those who have combined career success and public service.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards celebrates diversity in film, TV, music and literature.

Actor David Oyelowo is throwing his support behind a campaign to introduce black history into British primary education. The Selma star is helping to raise awareness of the petition as organisers needs to obtain 100,000 signatures by Tuesday (10Feb15) to get the issue discussed in Britain's Houses of Parliament.
Oyelowo, a father of two, urged his fans in the U.K. to sign the online campaign as he believes black history should be taught in schools to modernise Britain's national curriculum.
He says, "I think it's more than important. I think it is invaluable. Black people are part of the fabric of this nation. We pride ourselves on now being a multicultural society. It's outmoded and outdated to remove black history from schools - it's a very real part of British history and culture."

Selma star David Oyelowo has put his Oscars snub down to ongoing race issues in Hollywood. The civil rights drama landed a Best Picture nod when the Academy Awards nominations were announced last month (Jan15), but the Brit, who played Martin Luther King, Jr., was left out of the Best Actor shortlist.
Selma's Ava DuVernay was also shut out of the running for Best Director, and the double snub sparked outrage as both categories are dominated by white contenders, prompting critics to launch an online campaign under the slogan #OscarsSoWhite.
Oyelowo was asked about the controversy during an appearance at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in California over the weekend (31Jan15-01Feb15), and he insisted black actors are not given enough credit for playing leaders.
In video footage shot during a question-and-answer session, Oyelowo tells the audience, "Look, historically - this is truly my feeling, I felt this before the situation we're talking about and I feel it now - generally speaking, we, as black people, have been celebrated more for when we are subservient, when we are not being leaders or kings or being at the centre of our own narrative... Denzel Washington should have won for playing Malcolm X... So this bears out what I'm saying, which is we've just got to come to the point whereby there isn't a self-fulfilling prophecy - a notion of who black people are - that feeds into what we are celebrated as, not just in the Academy, but in life generally. We have been slaves, we have been domestic servants, we have been criminals, we have been all of those things. But we have been leaders, we have been kings, we have been those who changed the world."
Washington missed out on an Oscar for playing the title role in 1992 civil rights biopic Malcolm X, but he won Academy Awards for both Training Day and Glory.

"It turns out God has really great taste. When I pray to him about which roles I should do, it's a great guide. When I first read Selma, he told me I was going to play that part. And having been told by him that it was going to happen, I knew it would." British actor David Oyelowo is convinced his role of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma was a gift from God.

Summary

An exciting talent, British born Nigerian actor David Oyelowo broke the color barrier at the Royal Shakespeare Company with his bravura performance in a production of "Henry VI" before going on to achieve big screen success in a variety of genres. Pre-fame, Oyelowo was seen regularly in British households as a cast member on the hit spy series "MI-5" (BBC, 2002-11) and he successfully segued into film with solid performances in pictures like "The Last King of Scotland" (2006) and "Who Do You Love" (2008). He also continued to act on stage and established his own theatre company. Oyelowo gained additional mass audience exposure by appearing in the hit films "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011) and "The Help" (2011), and was also featured in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" (2012), and the Tom Cruise vehicle "Jack Reacher" (2012). With his exemplary background in live theatre, solid experience in series television, and increasing presence in feature films, Oyelowo demonstrated solid credentials and became a breakout international star with his impassioned performance as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights tale "Selma" (2014).